Gold price marooned as traders brace for jobs report and presidential race’s final days

London (Nov 4)  Gold futures showed little change Friday, maintaining their sold weekly gain, as analysts predicted muted action even with a monthly U.S. jobs report due.

Gold for December delivery GCZ6, -0.15%  fell by $1.10, or 0.1%, to $1,302.20 an ounce, while December silver SIZ6, -0.63%  dropped by 8 cents, or 0.4%, to $18.34 an ounce.

The October reading on nonfarm payrolls is slated to hit at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Economists polled by MarketWatch forecast that 175,000 jobs were added, the unemployment rate dipped to 4.9%, and average hourly earnings rose 0.3%.

The monthly report might not spark the fireworks in markets that it often does, suggested Commerzbank analysts led by Carsten Fritsch.

“The U.S. Federal Reserve signalled quite clearly the day before yesterday that it will be raising interest rates in December. Only exceptionally poor labor market data could deter it from doing so, in our opinion, and we do not expect to see such data,” the analysts wrote in a note Friday.

They also suggested the U.S. presidential race is hogging the spotlight.

“Many market participants seem to be biding their time and awaiting the outcome of next Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election,” the Commerzbank team said. “The election presumably matters more to market participants than the monthly publication of the labor market report.”

For the week, gold is on track for a gain of 2%, while silver is up 3.1%.

Read: Why gold will be the ‘only clear winner’ among commodities if Trump wins

Also read: Why gold will rise no matter who becomes the next U.S. president

Among exchange-traded funds, the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, -0.27% edged down by 0.1% in premarket trading, while the VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX, +2.18%  lost 0.6%.

Source: MarketWatch